Chapter 7 Chapter 7 The Flight of the Eagle

When Ged awoke, he lay for a long time.The only thing he knew was that it was good to be awake, because he hadn't thought he would be awake, and that it was good to see the light, that he was in an open daylight.He felt as if he were floating in the light, or drifting in a boat on an unusually calm water.Finally, he figured out that he was in a bed, but it was not like any bed he had ever slept in.The bed had a frame supported by four tall carved columns, and the mattress was thick velvet, which was why Ged thought he was floating.Above the bed is a maroon canopy that can block the wind.Ged looked out, and saw a room with stone walls and stone floors.Through the three high windows he could see the bare, terracotta field beyond, patched here and there in patches of snow in the mild winter sun.The room must have been high above the ground, for the windows afforded a great view.

When Ged got up, a downy satin sheet slid aside, and he realized that he was dressed in silk and silver like a landowner.On a chair by the bed, a pair of leather boots and a fur-lined cloak had been laid out for him.Like a man possessed, he sat for a moment calmly and inertly, then rose, reached for his stick, but it was gone. Although his right hand was bound with plaster, the palm and fingers were burned, and now he feels the pain, and his whole body is sore. He stood still for a while, and then called out in a low voice without hope: "Brother Hou Ye... Brother Hou Ye..." Because the fierce but loyal little animal was gone, the quiet little soul that killed him world to bring back.Did it follow him when he ran last night?Was that last night, or many nights ago?he does not know.It was all vague, and none of the corpses, the burning sticks, the running, the whispered calls, the gates, could be recalled clearly.Not a single thing is clear even now.He whispered the pet's name again, but without hope, tears welled up in his eyes.

Somewhere in the distance there is a faint ringing of bells.The second bell rang melodiously outside the door.Behind him, across the room, a door opened and a woman entered. "You are welcome, Sparrowhawk," she said with a smile. The woman was young and tall, dressed in white and silver.A silver net is pinned on the head, which looks like a crown.Long hair cascading down like a black waterfall. Ged bowed stiffly. "I guess you don't remember me." "Remember you, ma'am?" He had never seen such a beautiful woman in all his life, dressed to match his own beauty, only the Lady Ooshima who came to the festival with her husband at the festival of Roke Island was comparable.But the people on the island are like a dimly lit candle, but the woman in front of me is like a silver crescent moon.

"I don't think you remember," she said with a smile. "Despite your forgetfulness, you are welcome here as an old friend." "What is this place?" asked Ged, still stiff and tongue-tied.He found it difficult to talk to the lady, or not to look at her.The royal and noble clothes on his body made him feel strange, the stones on the ground were strange, and even the breath was different: he was not himself, not the former self. "This main tower is called 'Tie Ruoneng Palace'. My husband is called Bendersk, and he rules this land from the edge of the Kekesen Wasteland to the north to the Oss Mountains. He also guards a land called 'Tie Ruoneng Palace'. As for me, people around Ossk call me Siri, which means 'silver' in their language. As for you, I know you are sometimes called 'Sparrowhawk', and you Trained to be wizards on the Isle of the Wise."

Ged looked down at his burned hand, and said quickly, "I don't know what I am. I had power once, but I think it's gone now." "No, the power hasn't gone away! Or maybe you'll get ten times as much power. You're safe here from the thing that drove you here. The tower is surrounded by solid walls, some of which are still alive." Not built of stone. Here you can recuperate and get your strength back. You might also find a different kind of strength here, a staff that won't burn to ashes in your hand. After all, bad ways can Lead to a good death. Now you come with me, and I will show you our territory."

Her words were so sweet that Ged hardly heard what she was saying, but moved by her voice and followed her as she said. His room is really high from the ground, because the tower where the room is located is like a tooth protruding from the top of a mountain.Ged followed Siri, along great winding stone stairs, through rich rooms and halls, past many tall windows facing east, west, north, south, each overlooking a drab brown hill.There were no houses, no trees, no change on the hills, and that was all there was to see under the winter sunlit sky.Among them, only a few white mountain peaks can be seen in the far north against the blue sky. In the south, it can be guessed that the sea is shining in the sun.

The servants opened the door, and immediately stepped back to let Ged and his wife pass.The servants were grim, white-skinned Osikers.The Lady was white, too, but unlike the others, she spoke Hitt so fluently that Ged even had a Gont accent.Later that day, the Lady took Ged to her lord, Bandesque, Lord Tieronen.Benderske was three times Siri's age, and he was also fair-skinned, bony, and cloudy-eyed.He welcomed Ged, and offered to be a guest for as long as he wished, in a manner that was stern and indifferent without being rude.He said no more, not even asking Ged how his journey was, nor the enemy who had pursued him--not even Lady Sirrie.

If that was strange, the place, and why Ged was there, was still more so.All the while Ged seemed to be feeling out of his mind, unable to see things fully.He came to this main tower by accident, but this accident was designed, or in other words, he was designed to come here, but the implementation of this design was purely accidental.He had sailed northward, and a stranger in Port Oromid had pointed him to seek help here.Then, an Osko ship was waiting for him to board, and then Schiewoll was in charge of leading the way.How much of this series of processes was the work of the shadow that followed him?Or neither was right, but he and the shadow that followed him were dragged here by other forces at the same time.That is, Ged follows a certain lure, and Sombra follows Ged.As for using Schwarz as a weapon, was it a coincidence?It must be so, because as Xi Rui said, the black shadow was indeed blocked and could not enter Tie Ruoneng Palace.Since Ged awoke in this tower, there had been no sign or threat of a shadow lurking.But if so, what had brought him here?Although Ged's mind is still in a dull state, he can see that this place is not something ordinary people can come to if they want to.The place is remote and the towers are tall.Neixuan City is the closest town to here, but the towers face away from the road connecting the city.So no one came in or out of the tower, and the windows overlooked a deserted wasteland all around.

Ged was alone in the high tower room, and every day he looked out of the window, and day after day he felt dull, depressed, and cold.The tower was always listening, and it was cold even with its many blankets, tapestry paintings, fur-lined clothing, and wide marble fireplace.The cold penetrated deeply into the bones and spinal cord, and could not be driven away.And in Ged's heart, too, lived a cold shame, which could not be driven away: every time he remembered that he had faced his enemy face to face, but fled in defeat, that cold shame surged up.All the masters of Roke were assembled in his heart, Archmage Gunther was frowning among them, and Nymor was with them, and Ogion, and even the witch-aunt who taught him the first spell, all Everyone stared at Ged.Ged knew he had betrayed their confidence in him.He argued to the crowd: "If I don't run away, the shadow will possess me. It already has all the strength of Skittles, and some of my strength, and I can't fight it, it knows my name , I have no choice but to run away. The corpse plus the wizard will become a terrifying force of evil and destruction, so I have to run away." But those who listened to his defense in his heart refused to answer him.He could only look at the fine snow outside the window as usual, continuously drifting to the open space and wilderness under the window, which made him feel dull and cold expanding in his heart until finally he felt nothing but fatigue.

Thus Ged passed a miserable few days alone, and when at last he had a chance to leave the room and descend the tower, he remained silent and unresponsive.The beauty of the Lady in the Main Tower confused him, and it made Ged feel like a shepherd through and through in this strange, rich, comfortable and well-ordered palace. When he wanted to be alone, they let him be alone; when he couldn't bear his inner thoughts and didn't want to look at Luoxue anymore, Xi Rui would chat with him in a certain curved hall on the lower floor of the tower.There are many such halls on the lower floor of the tower, with carpeted walls and roaring fires.There was no joy to be seen in the Lady of the Tower, and though she smiled often, she never laughed.But all she needed was a smile to put Ged at ease.After spending time with her, Ged gradually forgot his dullness and shame.Before long, they saw each other every day, leaning against the fireplace or the window of the tall room in the tower to chat for a long time, quietly and casually, somewhat avoiding the maid who was always by Xi Rui's side.

The lord is mostly in his own room, and only in the morning will he stroll back and forth in the white-covered patio in the tower, like an old sorcerer who spends the whole night brewing spells.At dinner with Ged and Siree in the evening, he also sat silent, and sometimes glanced up at the young lady, his eyes stern and dark.Ged took pity on the lady, for she was only one of Bendersk's collections, the white stag in the iron cage, the white bird with broken wings, and the silver ring on the old man's finger.Ged always stayed with her when the master was gone, and tried to make her happy by taking away her solitude, as she made him happy by taking away his. "What is that jewel that gives this tower its name?" Ged asked his lady.The two of them still sat talking in the empty, candlelit dining room, empty of gold plates and goblets. "Haven't you heard of it? That gem is famous." "Never heard of it. I only know that the landowners of Osskol have famous treasures." "Oh, the brilliance of this gem exceeds all ores. Come, do you want to see it?" She was smiling, with a sneering and brave look on her face, as if she was a little worried about her decision.She led young Ged out of the dining-room, down the narrow corridor on the ground floor of the tower, and down to a locked door in the basement.Ged had not yet seen the door.The lady unlocked it with a silver key, and as she did so looked up at Ged with her usual smile, as if encouraging him to go on with her.After that door was a short passage, and then another door.This time she unlocked it with a golden key.After this door was the third door, which she unlocked with the Great Unbinding spell.Entering the last door, the candle in her hand revealed a small room that looked like a dungeon. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all rough stone, empty and without any equipment. "Did you see it?" Siri asked. Ged looked around the room, and his wizard's eye caught sight of one of the slings.It was a huge floor paving stone, as rough and dank as the others.But Ged could feel its power--as if it were speaking to him aloud, and his throat constricted, his breath choked, and for a moment his whole body ached.This is the cornerstone of the tower.It was the center of the tower, but it was cold, bitingly cold, and nothing could warm the little room.It is an ancient stone, and an ancient and terrifying elf is imprisoned in the stone. Ged didn't answer Siri, but just stood still.After a while, Xirui glanced at Ged curiously, and pointed at the stone at the same time: "That piece is the Tie Ruoneng gem. Do you wonder why we lock such a precious gem at the bottom of the tower?" in the collection room?" Still Ged made no answer, but stood silently attentive.Perhaps she was testing him; but Ged thought Siree had no idea of ​​the stone's properties, and spoke of it with indifference.She doesn't know the stone well enough to be afraid of it. "Tell me what power it has," said Ged at last. "This stone was created long before Xiguoyi rose from the open sea to the lands of the world, was born at the same time as the world, and will last forever. Time is of little importance to it. If you lay your hand on it Above, ask it questions, and it will answer questions according to your inner strength. As long as you know how to listen, this stone has a voice. It can talk about the past, present, and future.It speaks of your coming long before you set foot on this land.Would you like to ask it a question now? " "don't want." "It will answer you." "I have no questions to ask it." "Maybe I will tell you how to defeat your enemy soon." Xi Rui said softly. Ged stood silent. "Are you afraid of this stone?" Siri asked incredulously, and Ged replied, "Yes." In the deadly cold and silence of the room, surrounded by walls of spellstone, Sirie held a candle, and cast another glance at Ged with shining eyes, and said, "You are not afraid, Sparrowhawk." "But I will never speak to the elf," replied Ged, and then, looking directly at her, he said solemnly, "Madam, the elf is sealed in a stone, and the stone is bound, dazzled, locked, Locked up with three strong walls and hidden in a barren place, it was not because the stone was valuable, but because it would do great evil. I don't know what they told you when you came here; but a young and gentle man like you shouldn't touch this thing, don't even look at it, it won't do you any good. " "But I've touched it, I've spoken to it, I've heard it, and it hasn't hurt me." She turned around, and the two of them passed through many doors and passages, and finally came to the wide staircase of the tower, with the torch shining on one side, and Xi Rui blew out the candle.The two separated without saying a few words. Ged slept very little that night.It's not that he couldn't fall asleep because of the thought of the shadow, but that thought has been driven out of his mind, replaced by the recurring stone and Xi Rui's flickering face in the candlelight.He felt her eyes looking at him again and again, trying to determine whether Xi Rui's eyes looked contemptuous or hurt when he refused to touch the stone.When he finally lay down to sleep, the wire sheet on the bed was as cold as ice, and he woke up in the dark, thinking of the stone and Siri's eyes again. He found Siri the next day in the gray marble hall, where she used to play games or work at the loom with the maids.At this time, the setting sun in the west illuminated the hall.Ged said to her, "I'm sorry I was rude to you yesterday, Mrs Siri." "No," she said again, with a reflective look, "no." She dismissed her accompanying maids, and only turned to Ged when they were gone.She said: "My lord, my friend, you are a man of eyes, but perhaps you have not thought of these things. Gont and Roke teach great witchcraft, but they cannot teach Do all the witchcraft. This is the island of Osskor, also known as Raven Island. It is not an area that speaks Hexagram, so it is not controlled by mages, and mages don’t know much about this island. What happened on this island, the South Those masters may not have dealt with them; and some of the things here are not on the name list of the naming masters. People are always afraid of things they don’t know, but you are not afraid of anything when you are in the Iron Ruoneng Palace , If you were a weaker person, you would definitely be afraid, but you are not. It can be seen that you are born with strength and can control the things in the locked room. I know this, and this is why you are here now." "I do not understand." "That's because my husband, Benderske, hasn't fully confessed to you. I will. Come, sit next to me." He sat next to her on the cushioned windowsill.The dying sun shines directly into the windows, bathing them in a radiance without warmth.The field below the tower has been plunged into darkness, the snow from last night has not yet melted, and the monotonous white covers the ground. At this time, she said very softly: "Benderske is the lord and heir of Tie Ruoneng, but he can't use that thing, he can't make it completely obey his will. I can't either, whether alone or Can't work with him. Neither he nor I have that kind of skill, nor that kind of strength.But you have skill and strength. " "how do you know?" "From the stone itself! I told you, the stone said you would come. It knows its master, and it has been waiting for you. Before you were born, it was waiting for you, waiting for the one who can control it Whoever can teach Iron Stone to answer questions and obey instructions has a great deal of control over his own destiny, including the power to destroy any enemy, human or spiritual; as well as foresight, knowledge, wealth, territory; and There is sorcery that can be done at will, even the great mages would be ashamed! More or less, as you choose, as you ask." Again she looked at Ged with her strange bright eyes, and her gaze penetrated him, and made him shiver as if he had caught a cold.However, she also had fear on her face, as if she was seeking his help, but it was inconvenient to speak out because of her self-esteem.Ged was at a loss.She laid her hand lightly on Ged's as she spoke, and Siri's was small and fair in Ged's dark, strong hand.Ged argued: "Xi Rui! I don't have the power you think, and the power I once had is ruined in my hands. I can't help you, and I'm useless to you. But I understand that the ancients in the underground Power is not for people to use, and it must never be entrusted to us. Taikoo power will only be destroyed if it is in our hands. Improper means will lead to bad results. I am not attracted, but driven; My great power seeks to destroy me. I cannot help you." "Those who lose their strength are sometimes filled with greater strength." She still said with a smile, as if Ged's fears and scruples were childish. "What brought you here, I may know better than you. Was there not a man in Orome Street who spoke to you? He was a servant of Iron Stone, a messenger sent here. He himself was a wizard , but he gave up his staff to serve a power greater than that of any archmage. So you come to Osskol, in the wilderness, and you try to fight shadows with your staff. We almost saved No you, because the thing that follows you is more cunning than we imagined, and has absorbed a lot of your power...Only the shadow can fight the shadow; only the darkness can defeat the darkness. Listen to me, Sparrowhawk Think about it, what do you need to defeat the shadow waiting for you outside the walls?" "I need to know its name, but that's impossible." "The Iron Ruoneng Stone knows all about life and death, the creatures before and after death, the unborn and the undead, the world of light and the world of darkness, and it will tell you the name." "What price?" "There is no price. I tell you, it will obey you and serve you like a slave." Ged wavered and battled, and made no reply.Siri now took Ged's hand with both of her own, and looked into his eyelids.The sun had dipped into the hazy, dark horizon, and the sky was darkening, and she watched Ged, his will shaken, her face brighten with approval and triumph.She murmured softly: "You will be stronger than all men, you will be the king of men, you will rule everything, and I will rule with you--" Ged stood up suddenly and took a step forward. This step allowed him to see the bend in the wall of the long hall. Lord Tieruo Neng was standing by the door listening quietly, with a slight smile on his face. Ged's eyes saw clearly, and his mind cleared.He looked down at Siri. "It is light that defeats darkness," he stammered, "—it is light." His words were like lights guiding him, and as soon as he had finished speaking, it dawned on him how he had been drawn, lured here; how they had used his fears to guide him; how they had kept him when he came.Indeed, they rescued him from the shadows, because they didn't want Ged to be possessed by the shadows before he became a slave to the ancient stone of Tie Ruoneng.Once his will is seized by the power of the stone, they let the shadow enter the walls - for the ghoul is a better minion than a man.If Ged had ever touched the Primordial Stone or spoken to it, he would have been utterly lost.Fortunately, Sombra hadn't been able to catch up with Ged enough to catch him, and the Primordial Stone hadn't been able to use him either—nearly.Ged was almost subdued--nearly. He did not agree, and it is very difficult for evil to grasp a soul that has not promised it. He stood between the two who had surrendered, and looked at the two in turn.Benderske stepped forward. "Xi Rui, I told you," Lord Tieruo Neng said to his wife with a dry voice, "he will escape your grasp. You sorcerers on Gont Island are smart fools. And you, Gont Island woman, you are also a fool. You actually want to deceive him and me at the same time, use your beauty to control us both, and then use Tie Ruo to achieve your personal goals. Unfortunately, I am the owner of the ancient stone. Wife, I deal with it like this: 'Yikafulo Ai Oyehuangta... . . .'" It was a transmutation. Bendix's long hand was raised high, trying to transform the cowering woman into something unbearable, perhaps a pig, or a dog, or a slobbering crone. Ged hurried Stepping forward, he struck the lord's hand with his hand while chanting a short spell. Although he had no wand and was in a strange land, a realm of dark powers, his will prevailed. Bendersk stood motionless , The cloudy eyes stared at Xi Rui resentfully and blankly. "Come on," Xi Rui said tremblingly: "Sparrow Eagle, hurry up, before he summons the servant of the Primordial Stone..." A small voice echoed through the tower, piercing the stone walls and ground.It was a dry, quivering whisper, as if the land itself had spoken. Siri grabbed Ged's hand, and ran with him through the passages and halls, and down the long, winding steps. When they came to the courtyard, the last light of the sky was still shining on the trampled snow.Three servants from the castle stopped them, and questioned them displeasedly, as if suspecting that they had done something against their master. "Ma'am, it's getting late," one person said, and the other said, "You can't go out of town at this time." "Go away, filth," Xi Rui yelled, using Osik with a strong fricative.The servants fell to the ground and rolled, one of them screaming loudly. "We must go out by the gate, there is no other way out. Do you see the gate? Can you find it, Sparrowhawk?" She tugged at his hand, but Ged hesitated. "What curse did you put on them?" "I'll put hot lead in their spinal cords, and they'll die. Quick, I tell you, he's about to set the Primordial stone servants free, and I can't find the gate—the gate is heavily cursed, quick! " G did not understand her, for it seemed to him that the enchanted gate lay at the head of the stone arcade of the courtyard, and he could see it perfectly.He led Siri through the arcade, across the untrodden snow in the front yard, and then, speaking the opening spell, he led her through the gate in the middle of the spell wall. As soon as they walked out the door and entered the silver twilight outside Tie Ruoneng's palace, Xi Rui changed.In the desolate light of the field, her beauty remained undiminished, but that beauty carried the murderous air of a witch.Gederan at last recognized her: she was the daughter of the lord of Raiabai, the daughter of a witch of Ossk, who had taunted Ogion long ago in the green meadows on the hill where Ogion dwelt, and had prompted him to read The spell that casts shadows. Ged had no time to think about it, though, for now he had to be alert and look around for the enemy, the dark shadow waiting for him somewhere beyond the spell wall.It might still be a puppet, clad in the dead body of Schiewoll; or it might be lurking in the darkness, waiting to catch Ged and fuse its formlessness with Ged's flesh and blood.Ged felt it was near but could not see it, and looking closer he saw a small, dark thing, half buried in the snow a few paces from the gate.He bent down and picked it up gently. It was an otuck, its fine short hair matted with blood, and its small body looked thin, stiff, and cold in Ged's hands. "Transform! Transform! Here they come!" shrieked Siree, snapping Ged by the arm, and pointing to the tower.The tower loomed behind them like a great white tooth in the twilight.From the window near the basement, a black animal was crawling out, with its long wings stretched, flapping slowly, circling over the city wall, and flying towards Ged and Xirui; and they stood at the foot of the mountain without any barriers.The small voices heard earlier in the tower, this was slowly growing louder, trembling and moaning in the ground beneath their feet.Rage welled up in Ged, a seething rage of hatred against the dead things that had so cruelly deceived him, trapped him, and hunted him down. "Transform quickly!" Xi Rui screamed at him, and quickly inhaled and cast the spell herself, shrunk into a gray seagull, and flew up.But Ged stooped and plucked a blade of weed out of the snow where the Outak had died, the weed sticking out from the ground, dry and brittle.Ged held up the weed, and spoke the spell over it in the true word, and the grass grew thicker and longer, and when the spell was over, Ged held a great witch's staff in his hand.The black winged monster from Tieroneng Palace flew towards him, and when Ged struck him with his staff, it didn't burn out a deadly red flame, but only a white magic fire, which was not scorching, but could drive away the darkness. The monster returned to attack.Those lumbering monsters that existed in a time before birds, dragons, or men, long forgotten by the sun, are now conscripted by the ancient evil of the Primordial Stone.The monster attacked Ged, and sprang at him, and Ged felt its claws brush all around him, and their stench made him sick.Ged drove them away violently with a light staff made of his own wrath and a splinter of weeds.Suddenly, the monsters rushed up, like wild crows frightened by carrion, flapped their wings soundlessly, turned around and flew towards the direction where Xirui Seagull was flying.Their huge wings seem to be slow, but they fly very fast, and each flap pushes them vigorously towards the center of the Lord.No seagull can match their incredible speed. Ged quickly transformed himself into a great eagle, as he had done on Roke: not the sparrowhawk as he was called, but a hawk that flew as fast as an arrow or a thought.He spread his sharp, strong, dappled wings, and flew after the monsters that pursued him.The sky has turned, and the stars are twinkling among the clouds.He saw a group of beasts in front of him, all of them flying towards a point in mid-air.A short distance beyond that black spot was the ocean, gray and glinting in the last light of the sky.Lu Yingge was able to fly towards the ancient stone monsters at super speed. As soon as he flew into the group of monsters, the monsters immediately scattered like a small stone thrown into the pool.But they had already caught their prey: one of the monsters had blood hanging from the corner of its mouth, and the other had white feathers in its claws.On the vast sea, no fishing gull was seen flying past. The monster turned to Ged again, and swooped down upon Ged with its steel mouth open and ugly.Once Ged the Eagle hovered above them, calling out defiantly his rage with a high-pitched hawk call, and then whizzed over the low beaches of Osskol and climbed high above the spray of the sea. The ancient stone monsters screamed hoarsely, and after circling for a while, they turned back to the sky above the field one by one.Taiguli has long been bound in a certain cave, a certain rock, or a certain spring in each island, and will never go across the sea.So, these black beasts all returned to the tower, and Bandex, the iron lord, might cry or laugh at their return.But Ged flew on, flapping the falcon's wings, beating the falcon's fury, like an arrow that never fell, and like a thought that never forgot, over the Sea of ​​Ossk, eastward into the wind and the night . Ogion the Reticent returned home to Reyabai late this year from his autumn wanderings.As the years passed, he became more silent and more content with solitude than ever.The new lord of Gont in the city below had climbed up to the Falcon's Nest to seek advice from the mage Ogion for his successful plundering adventure to the Androids, but he had not received a single word.Ogion, who spoke to the spiders in the web and greeted the trees politely, said nothing to the visiting island owner, and finally the island owner had to leave angrily.Ogion was perhaps a little displeased or disturbed, for he had wandered alone over the hills all summer and autumn, and did not come home to the fireside till now, near the return of the sun. The next day after returning home, he got up late and wanted to drink rush tea, so he walked out of the house and walked down the hill for a short distance to fetch water from a mountain spring.The water from the mountain spring formed a small pond, the edges of which were frozen, and the frost flowers outlined the shape of dry moss among the rocks. It was broad daylight, but the sun did not shine for an hour on the huge shoulder of the mountain, because in the winter morning, the entire western part of Gont Island, from the seashore to the top of the mountain, was not exposed to the sun, and it was just a peaceful place. sunny.The mage stood by the spring, watching the downhill mountains, the harbor, and the vast sea in the distance, when he heard the sound of wings beating above his head.He looked up, raised one arm slightly, and a big eagle flew down and landed on his wrist.The eagle is attached to his wrist like a well-trained game bird, without chains, straps or bells.Its claws gripped Ogion's wrist, its dappled wings quivered, and its round golden eyes were dull but wild. "Are you the messenger, or the message itself?" Ogion asked the eagle gently, "follow me..." The eagle gazed at him as he spoke.Ogion was silent for a moment, "I guess I named you once." Then he strode home. After entering the house, the eagle was still on the wrist.Then he placed the eagle in the heat above the hearth, made it stand, and gave it water to drink.The eagle refused to drink.Ogion then began to cast his spell.He was very quiet, using his hands more than his incantations when weaving the web.When the spell was finished, he did not look at the falcon on the stove, but said softly, "Ged." After waiting a moment, he turned and got up, and walked towards the young man, trembling in front of the fire, with tired eyes. Ged was in splendid and strange raiment, of furs and silks and silver, only torn and stiffened with sea-salt.He was gaunt and stooped, his hair hanging down his scarred face. Ogion took off his rich but muddy cloak, took him to the alcove where the apprentice had slept, laid him down on a bed of straw, and whispered a sleeping spell.He said not a word to Ged, for he knew that Ged was not yet able to speak human tongue. When Ogion was a child, like most boys, he thought it must be a fun game to use magic skills to change his body at will, be it a man or a beast, or a tree or a cloud, and play a thousand different roles in this way.After becoming a wizard, he learned that the price of this game is to lose himself and stay away from the truth.These dangers are greater the longer a person remains in a metamorphosis other than his original form.Every apprentice warlock knows the story of the Borgie wizard on the Isle of Way: the wizard loved to transform into a bear, and after so many transformations and time, the bear grew on him and he himself died.So he turned into a bear and killed his own son in the forest, and was hunted down and killed later.No one knows how many of the many dolphins jumping in the Inner Pole Sea were originally humans.They were wise men, but they played in the never-quiet sea, gladly forgetting their wisdom and their names. Ged took the form of an eagle out of great grief and wrath, and as he flew from Osik back to Gond, he had but one thought in his mind: to fly away from the Primordial Stone and the Shadow, and escape from those dangerous and cold isles, Back to the mound.Falcon's anger and savagery, which originally seemed to be his own rage and savagery, now completely become his; his will to fly has also become Falcon's will.That's how Ged flew over Enlad, drinking at a lonely forest pool, and then at once flapped his wings again, for fear of the shadows that were chasing after him.In this way, he crossed a wide sea channel named "Inlad's Jaw", and continued to fly southeast.On his right is the distant mountains of Aurenia, and on his left is the even more distant mountains of Andro Island. There is only the ocean in front of him. At the end of the flight, he sees a wave of unchanging waves protruding from the raging waves.屹立高耸，那就是白色的弓忒山巅。这次日夜大飞行，他等於穿戴隼鹰的双翼，也透过隼鹰的双眼观看天地，最後他渐渐忘了自己原本知道的想法，只剩下隼鹰知道的想法：饥饿、风、飞行路线。 他飞对了港口。要让他回复人形，柔克岛有几个人能办到，而弓忒岛则只有一个人。 他醒来时，沈默而凶残。欧吉安一直没有和他讲话，只是给他肉和水，让他弓著身子坐在火旁，像只疲乏、冷酷、不悦的大老鹰。夜晚来时，他又睡了。第三天早晨，他走到端坐在炉火旁凝望著炉火的法师身边，说：“师傅……” “欢迎，孩子。”欧吉安说。 “我这次回来，与我离开时一样，都是傻子。”年轻人说著，声音沙哑粗厚。法师微笑，示意格得坐在炉火对面，然後开始沏茶。 雪在飘。那是弓忒岛低地山坡的第一场冬雪。欧吉安家的窗户紧闭，但他们听得见湿雪轻轻落在屋顶上的声音，也听得见房子四周白雪的深奥宁静。他们在炉火边坐了很久，格得告诉师傅，自从他搭乘“黑影”号离开弓忒岛後，这些年来的经过。欧吉安没有提出问题，格得讲完後，他静默许久，平静深思。然後他站起来去张罗面包、乳酪、酒，摆在桌上，两人坐下同吃。吃完收拾妥当，欧吉安才说：“孩子，你脸上那些伤疤不好受吧。” “我没有力气对抗那东西。”格得说。 欧吉安久久没说话，只是摇头。最後，他终於说道：“奇怪，在瓯司可岛，你有足够的力量，在术士的地盘败退他的法术。你有力量抵抗地底太古力的诱惑，闪避它仆人的攻击。在蟠多岛，你也有足够的力量面对巨龙。” “在瓯司可岛，我有的是运气，不是力气。”格得回答，想起铁若能宫那股鬼魅般的阴冷，他再度不寒而栗。“至於降龙，那是因为我知道它的名宇。但那邪恶的东西，那追捕我的黑影，却没有名宇。” “万物皆有名。”欧吉安说道，他的语气十分确定，使格得不敢重述耿瑟大法师曾对他说过的话：像他释放出来的这类邪恶力量是没有名字的。但蟠多龙的确表示过要告诉他黑影的名字，只是当时他不太信任它的提议。格得也不相信席蕊的保证，说太古石会把他需的答案都告诉他。 “如果那黑影有名字，”格得终于说：“我想它也不会停下来把名字告诉我。” “是不会。”欧吉安说：“你也不曾停下来把你的名字告诉它，但它却晓得你的名字。 在瓯司可岛的郊野，它喊你的名字，就是我帮你取的名字。奇怪了，奇怪……” 欧吉安再度沈思。格得终于说：“师傅，我是回来寻求建言的，不是避难。我不希望把这黑影带来给你，可是，如果我留在这里，它很快就会来。有一次你就是从这个房里把它连走……” “不，那一次只是预兆，是影子的影子。如今，我已经赶不走黑影，只有你才能赶走它。” “可是，我在它面前就毫无力量。有没有哪个地方……”格得的问题尚未问完，声音先没了。 “没有安全的地方。”欧吉安温和地说。“格得，下次别再变换身形了。那黑影执意毁灭你的真实存在，才迫使你变成图形，结果差点得逞。但是你该去哪里，我也不知道。 不过，你该怎麽做，我倒有个主意，但实在很难对你说出口。 " 格得以沈默表示要求实话，瓯吉安终于说道：“你必须转身。” “转身？” “要是你继续向前，继续逃，不管你跑去哪里，都会碰到危险和邪恶，因为那黑影驾御著你，选择你前进的路途。所以，必须换你来选择。你必须主动去追寻那追寻你的东西；你必须主动搜索那搜索你的黑影。” 格得没有说话。 “我在阿耳河的泉源为你命名，那条溪流由山上流入大海。”大法师说：“一个人终有一天会知道他所前往的终点，但他如果不转身，不回到起点，不把起点放入自己的存在之中，就不可能知道终点。假如他不想当一截在溪流中任溪水翻滚淹没的树枝，他就要变成溪流本身，完完整整的溪流，从源头到大海。格得，你返回弓忒，回来找我；现在，你得更彻底回转，去找寻源头，找寻源头之前的起点。那里蕴含著你获得力量的希望。” “师傅，哪里？”格得说的时候，声音里怀著恐惧：“在哪里？” 欧吉安没回答。 “如果我转身，”格得过了一阵子才说：“如果像您说的，由我追捕那个追捕我的黑影，我想应该不需要多少时间，因为它只盼与我面对面。它已经达成两次，而且两次都击败我。” “'第三次'具有神奇魔力。”欧吉安说。 格得在室内来回踱步，从炉边走到门边，从门边走到炉边。“要是它把我击垮，”格得说著，或许是反驳欧吉安，或许是反驳自己：“它就会取走我的知识和力量，加以利用。目前，受威胁的只有我，但如果它进人我，占有我，就会透过我去行大恶。” “没有错，要是它击败你的话。” “但如果我又逃跑，它肯定会再找到我……我的力气全都花在逃跑。”格得继续踱步片刻後，突然转身，跪在法师面前，说：“我曾经与伟大的巫师同行，也曾在智者之岛住过，但您才是我真正的师傅，欧吉安。”他的口气满怀敬爱与凄黯的快乐。 “好，”欧吉安说：“现在你明白了，总比永远都不明白好。不过，你终究会成为我的师傅。”欧吉安站起来发火，让火烧旺些，再把水壶吊在上面烧煮，然後拿出他的羊皮外套。“我得去照料羊群了，帮我看著水壶，孩子。” 等他又进屋时，羊皮外套全是雪花，手上多了一根粗糙的紫杉长枝。那天短短的午後和晚餐後的时间，欧吉安一直坐在灯火旁，用小刀、磨石和法术修整那根紫杉枝。他好几次用双手顺著枝干向下触摸，好像在找瑕疵。他埋首工作时，一直轻轻唱著歌。仍觉疲乏的格得听著，睡意渐浓，他觉得自己好像是十榻村女巫茅屋里的那个小男孩。那晚上下著雪，室内灯火暗沈，空气中有浓浓的药草味和烟气，他耳边听著轻柔漫长的咒语吟唱和英雄行谊，那是好久以前在遥远的岛屿上，英雄对抗黑暗势力而得胜或迷失的经过，听了使他整个心田有如入梦般飘浮起来。 “好了，”欧吉安说著，把完工的手杖递给格得。“柔克学院的大法师送你紫杉杖，是很好的选择，所以我遵循前例。我出来想用这树枝做成长弓，但还是这样好。晚安，我的孩子。” 格得找不到言词表达感谢。欧吉安目送他转身回凹室休息时说：“噢，我的小却鹰，好好飞吧。”声音很轻，格得没听见。 欧吉安在寒冷的清晨醒来时，格得已经走了。他只用符文在炉底石上留下银色的潦草字迹，十足的巫师作风。欧吉安阅读时，宇迹几乎消褪：“师傅，我去追了。”